


Idiots

by cr8zymommy



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-05-23
Packaged: 2018-01-26 06:31:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1678232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cr8zymommy/pseuds/cr8zymommy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some officers with a bad attitude get a little out of hand with their revenge. This thing had started out as a short little drabble that really turned into a long one shot that deserved it's own page.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Idiots

“Would you quit your damn muttering, Reid?” Derek snapped angrily. “You’re giving me a migraine over here!”

The sharp retort that wanted to rise to Spencer’s lips was choked down at the look on Derek’s face. Instead he found himself shuffling his feet a little and turning toward the evidence board. Tempers were running high in the station that night between everyone. A week they’d been here and they were no closer to catching their Unsub than they’d been days ago.

Spencer looked at the messed up board in front of him to distract himself from the hurt and annoyance he was currently feeling with his best friend. All he’d been doing was venting some frustration at the way the cops had messed with his board.

He hadn’t realized how loud he’d been venting, true. Or, really, that he’d been saying it out loud at all. So, he could see how it was something that had been getting on Derek’s nerves. But didn’t anyone understand the importance of having the correct information in the correct spot?

What made it worse was that it wasn’t the main evidence board that had been messed with. Oh no, it had been _his_. The spot where he’d been working on the geographical profile. Someone had moved some of the little things he’d tacked up to help his brain think. Moved them out of the place they were supposed to be. Which, of course, threw off the whole scheme of things and messed with his time and thinking processes.

Well, this distraction wasn’t working well. Instead of calming down he found himself getting more and more annoyed. Not just with Derek, now, but with whoever had done this. Not that he had any real doubts about it. His eyes slid unconsciously across the room and toward the desk where Detective Jameson and his partner Curtis were sitting, looking innocently at files in their hands. Spencer could see the corners of their mouths quirked, though.

They’d been annoying him almost from the instant the team had arrived. He’d recognized the look in their eyes when Aaron had introduced him. By now Spencer was well used to the surprise that he received when anyone introduced him as Dr. Reid. Even though he knew the others did it to try and help him get the respect they felt he deserved, sometimes he wished they wouldn’t. It just made him stand out even more than he already did. Not only a young, scrawny, geeky looking agent in sweater vests, but a genius as well? That was like painting a target on his back.

Well, there was no point in moaning about it. The only thing that was going to do for him was to get yet another person irritated with him.

Turning his back on his friend, Spencer stepped up to the board and tried to start putting pieces back where they belonged. Why couldn’t people just leave him alone? Why on earth did he always have to surround himself by these alpha males that felt the need to dominate every little person around them?

“What’re you doing, kid?”

Built up into a fine temper by then, Spencer had to work at keeping his tone level. Oh, so _now_ Derek wanted to talk to him? Not before, when he was really irritated, but now? “Nothing, Morgan.” There, that was safe. Maybe then Derek could just leave him alone and he could go back to putting his markers where they were supposed to be…

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

….and apparently, he wasn’t going to have that kind of luck.

Sighing, Spencer closed his eyes for a moment and counted to ten. When he felt like he finally had patience he responded. “I’m just fixing some things.” Now, wasn’t that enough? Man, when he was done with this he was going to find the nearest pot of coffee and drink the entire thing. In one sitting. Maybe then he’d feel a little more alert, a little less tired, and his emotions wouldn’t be trying to run away with him.

“But why are you rearranging them?” Derek’s voice was closer now. Spencer could actually feel the heat from the other man’s body as he stepped up beside him. He forced himself to ignore the small thrill he felt. Now was not the time to let his attraction to the other man come out. But it was difficult when Derek shifted a little closer. “And what’s this? I thought you said before that these ones were for victims?” He pointed to one marker that, indeed, was supposed to represent a victim. It was placed off in the middle of a street that had no correlation with anything involving their case.

Inside his own mind, Spencer seethed. On the outside, he pulled the marker out and stuck it back where it was supposed to go. Maybe a little more forcefully than normal, but a guy couldn’t be expected to control everything.

At least Derek wasn’t trying to help him put them back where they belonged. The entire team had learned a long time ago that Reid was touchy about people messing with his maps on his board. This was his area of expertise. Though others tried to help, they had a tendency to throw off his thought process when they touched things. So, instead of trying to just do what they were thinking, they’d come and bounce the idea they had off of him and he’d incorporate it into his system. It worked for the team. That was why they gave him his own board when they worked instead of making him share.

A hand on his arm stopped Spencer before he reached for another piece. He would have snapped this time, finally letting a little of his temper out, but he knew his teammate and best friend well. There was something in Derek’s grip on his arm that told him to keep his cool. It didn’t mean he could bring himself to turn and look at him, though.

For a moment there was silence. Then Derek asked him “Did someone on the team play a joke on you?”

The both of them knew the answer to that. No one on the team would have done something like this as a joke. Not because they were afraid of what would happen, but because they were all a little protective of him and they didn’t typically do things to irritate him if they could help it. Not only that, but the jokes they all did play on one another tended to be almost juvenile. Maybe it was because their lives were so harsh and serious; they saw so much pain and death that childish jokes were one of the perfect pressure releases.

“No.” Spencer finally said. He sighed, letting his tension drain from him. He just wasn’t good at being mad. Most especially at Derek. His attention was now turned toward trying to keep Derek from pursuing this. Out of all of them, Derek was the most protective. If he found out that it was those two knucklehead officers who’d messed not only with his board, but with him from the get-go, he’d be pissed. Beyond pissed, even. “Everything is fine, Morgan. Let it go.”

“What happened?”

This time he did turn to look. The expression on Derek’s face had Spencer wanting to sigh. Yeah, this was potentially a crappy situation in the making. “I told you, everything is fine.”

“Reid…”

Another voice interrupted them right then. “Morgan, Reid!”

 _Thank you, Hotch_ , Spencer thought to himself. Saved by the boss. He turned to look at his Unit Chief, who was walking purposefully toward them. Bless the man for his perfect timing.

“I’m sending you two to go talk to a potential witness for me.” Aaron wasted no time in saying when he reached them. “We got a call saying that a Mrs. Greenbalm thinks she might know the person mentioned in the press conference, but she doesn’t want to come in to the station. She’s scared about driving in the snow. Now, Morgan, I know you have bad weather driving experience and Reid, I think Mrs. Greenbalm will respond well to you questioning her.” Which Spencer knew translated to ‘ _She’ll see you as the least threatening’_.

They took down the address from Aaron, which Spencer calculated was about a ten minute drive from the station in good weather. The snow falling down outside would make a big difference to their time. Most likely it’d add another five to nine minutes to their drive time.

Derek had already grabbed up his jacket and moved toward the door. Moving to do the same, Spencer looked curiously down at the chair in front of him. Hadn’t he tossed his jacket here earlier? Closing his eyes, he flipped through the day’s mental images. Yes, he’d come in, shivering his way through work for a while until the heat had finally soaked in. Then he’d turned and made a point to toss his coat in the chair so he wouldn’t lose it. He was always losing things while he worked.

So, if he’d put it in the chair, where on earth was it now?

A soft snicker reached Spencer’s ears at that moment and everything in him froze. Of course. He closed his eyes once more and took a deep breath, counting to five. This time, instead of anger, the familiar waves of hurt hit him. He was an adult now; shouldn’t this kind of childish behavior have stopped? Or was he going to be doomed to deal with bullies for the rest of his life? Was that just going to be his fate?

Well, just because they were going to try and drive him to distraction didn’t mean that he had to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they’d won. A quote by Marie Curie floated through his mind. _“Life is not easy for any of us, but what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves.”_

He may not always have confidence in himself but he was going to have the perseverance to not let anyone force him down. Just once in his life he was determined not to let some bully know that they had succeeded in getting him down.

Pride was like a cloak that he wrapped around himself. He deliberately ignored the two still snickering detectives and instead focused his gaze on the front door of the station. Amazingly he kept his feet steady as he crossed the room and headed out the door.

The first blast of cold air and snow had Spencer shivering. He wrapped his arms around his waist and moved toward the black SUV that was pulling up in front of him. He’d known that Derek was going to go get the car and bring it around. Not only from years of knowing his co-worker and knowing how Derek was when he worked, but also because he knew that Derek knew _him_ and would be trying to keep him from being in the cold too much.

Spencer felt his hand shake from the cold as he reached out and grabbed the door handle. He couldn’t stop himself from shivering while climbing in and snapping the door shut as quickly as possible. He forced his hands to move, taking the seatbelt and locking it. Vaguely he heard a soft curse from Derek. Then there was the sound of movement and suddenly, heat was blowing directly on Spencer. He almost moaned from the sensation. His body instinctively moved forward a little, leaning into the heat.

“What the hell, kid?” Derek asked him. The car started moving, but Spencer didn’t pay any attention. He trusted Derek’s driving and he knew where they were going. What he focused on was the heat and Derek’s voice as it filled the car. “Where is your jacket?”

He hadn’t thought beyond leaving the station, Spencer had to admit to himself. If he had, he would have realized that he was going to freeze outside and that Derek was going to question him. To be honest, if he’d thought it through, he really should have just said something to the two and got his coat back. The guys wouldn’t have dared to cause too much trouble in a station full of officers that might see or hear what was going on. That was a much better alternative than having to deal with Derek’s questions and, if he found out the truth, his temper. Unfortunately, him finding out the truth was a likely option. Spencer knew he wasn’t a good liar when it came to his friends. They always seemed to see right through him.

“I-I’m not s-s-sure.” Spencer stuttered out, his teeth chattering slightly. He had been careful in answering Derek. What he’d said wasn’t a technical lie. He didn’t know where his coat was. Man, why on earth did he get so cold so easily? He’d barely been outside! But it was like the cold had soaked straight down into his bones in an instant. Though the heaters _were_ helping tremendously.

“What do you mean, you’re not sure?”

A string of curses he typically didn’t use filled Spencer’s mind. Couldn’t Derek just let this go? He tried to think fast. “You k-know me, Morg-gan.” There, that was simple. He _was_ rather notorious for setting things down when he was working and not remembering where he put them. Much to everyone’s amusement, actually.

Derek scoffed lightly at him, never looking away from the road. “I do know you, kid. This means I know when you’re feeding me lines of bullshit.” He said seriously. “Now, you plan on telling me what the hell is going on? First, you’re grumbling and muttering to yourself in the station until I thought my brain would leak out my ears. Then, you sit here and bold faced lie to me about something as simple as a jacket.”

Sometimes, working with a group of profilers was a, well, a giant pain. Spencer chewed on the inside of his cheek, his eyebrows drawing down as his gaze slid to the snow outside the window. There had to be a way to deal with this. His thoughts wrestled with one another for a moment. Part of him wanted to tell Derek; to just unload on his best friend. That part of him also hated lying to someone he cared about. But the other part of him didn’t want to say anything. That part was the little kid in him who had been trained to just duck his head down and keep on going, no matter what anyone did to him.

He wished there was a happy medium between the two. But, he’d already let the silence stretch on for so long that there was no way Derek wouldn’t know something was going on.

Yet again Spencer was saved from a conversation he didn’t want to have, though. He hadn’t realized how long he’d let the silence stretch on until he saw the street they were on. Oh, wow. They were already here. Either he’d spaced quite a bit or Derek had driven faster than he should have in the snow.

The SUV was put into park. Just when Spencer would have reached for his belt to unhook himself, Derek’s hand settled on his shoulder. He forced himself to look up at a face that was full of concern. “We’ve got a job to do, Reid, so I’m going to let this slide. For now.” Derek told him gently. There was compassion on his face, but there was also determination. “I have absolutely no idea what on earth is going on, but something’s been off with you the past few days, not just today. When we get done here, you and I are going to talk.”

That obviously wasn’t a request. Spencer did the only thing he could, he nodded, but his mind was already racing over a million different ways he could try to fix this. Together, the two men stepped from the SUV and slipped into work mode, preparing to interview their new ‘lead’.

NEXT PART

When they reached the front door, Spencer had to work his hardest to not shiver convulsively. He waited, arms wrapped around his waist, as Derek knocked. The two men looked at one another when no one answered. Again, Derek knocked. This time he called out the woman’s name as well as announcing himself. Still nothing.

“You t-t-think she’s-s ok-k-k?” Spencer stammered out. The wind blew, making him shiver once again. Damn those jerks! He was freezing without his coat on out here.

Derek looked at the door again. He moved sideways, glancing in the window. “Nothing in the living room. It doesn’t look like any other lights are on.”

“We c-c-can’t go i-i-in witho-out a w-warrant.”

“I know. Something just doesn’t feel right. Why say she’d meet with us and then end up not being home?” A sigh slid past Derek’s lips before he turned to look at Spencer. He gave him an appraising look. “Let’s get you back in that car before you shiver so hard you actually break something, kid.”

Any other time, Spencer might have protested, just on principal. He’d learned to enjoy his moments of bickering with Derek. They made him feel kind of…normal. But right at that moment the idea of heat was too good to pass up. He followed Derek back to the SUV, eagerly climbing into his seat. Once Derek was in and the car was on, heat blasted out of the heaters once more. Spencer had to bite his cheek again to keep the whimper from slipping past his lips.

“How on earth have you managed to survive this long with that little meat on your body?” Derek teased him while pulling away from the curb. “Every time it drops below fifty you’re always freezing.”

“Vegas k-kid, r-remember?”

“Right, right. You’re used to being able to cook your food on the sidewalk with the heat you have.”

“Why o-on earth w-w-would I w-want to cook my f-f-food on something s-s-so unsanitary as a p-public s-s-sidewalk?”

The confusion in Spencer’s voice had Derek chuckling at him. “Never mind, kid. It’s an expression.”

“Oh.” Well, it didn’t make much sense, did it? Why would someone eat off the sidewalk? Spencer shrugged it off and huddled in on himself, pulling his knees up towards his chest. He’d much rather deal with teasing and random expressions that he didn’t understand than have Derek pick up their old conversation. “Half t-t-the things you s-say don’t make s-s-sense sometimes, Morgan.” He taunted, hoping to keep this going.

A look at Derek showed him that this was a futile effort. Damn. “Nice try, Reid.”

“I d-d-don’t know w-what you m-m-mean.”

“You think I don’t know when you’re distracting me? Come on now, I know you better than that. Talk to me.”

He locked his eyes forward on the road. “There’s n-nothing to s-s-say.”

“Reid.”

Just that one word. But, it was the tone he said it in that had Spencer flinching slightly. That tone told him that Derek wasn’t going to let this go. Not without finding out something. Closing his eyes, Spencer let out a soft sigh, the heat finally chasing the most of the chill from his body. “Please, Morgan. Can you j-just let it go? Please. It has no b-bearing whatsoever on our case. I c-can handle this.”

“I didn’t think it had anything to do with the case, kid. But it has something to do with you and that’s more important to me. I’m not doubting that you can handle it. I just, I want to help.”

“I’m infinitely grateful to you for that. But, I’m handling it, just like I always have.”

Almost instantly he knew that was the wrong thing to say. It gave away far, far too much. He couldn’t help but wince when he heard Derek start cursing. Damn it, couldn’t he have just kept his mouth shut? Maybe if he’d just ignored Derek then this might not have happened. He’d just basically guaranteed that Derek wasn’t going to let this go.

“Handling what, Reid?” Derek snapped at him. There was anger written plainly in his voice. “What are you handling? It someone giving you a hard time?”

Still Spencer tried to downplay it and give himself time to think. “Why would you think that?”

“Don’t try that act with me, Dr. Reid, or I’ll kick your ass myself.” The threat didn’t scare Spencer as it might have a few years ago. He knew Derek better. “You said you’re handling it, just like you always have. Pair that together with your anger and the board being all messed up when all of us know better than to touch your board. Then you can’t find your jacket. And that’s just today!”

Just today? Oh, no. Derek hadn’t noticed any of the other things, had he? Spencer clenched his eyes shut as his friend proved his wishes futile.

“You’ve been missing more stuff than ever lately. Your coffee that you said you must have ordered wrong when you spit out the drink you took. Your misplaced files. Not getting our phone calls cause you said you misplaced your phone. You’ve been jumpy as hell, too. Now, are you going to tell me what the hell is going on already or do I have to walk into that damn station and start demanding answers from everyone else?”

“No!” The word ripped from Spencer with horror. Wide eyed, he spun to look at his best friend. “Don’t do that!” The idea actually terrified him. He knew that terror was written on his face and in his voice, but he couldn’t stop it. If Derek did that, it would only make things worse in the long run. One alpha male going after other alpha males was a recipe for disaster. First for them, and then in the end it would be for Spencer. He would be the one that would have to suffer the consequences. He could make it until the case was over. He could! Then they’d be home and it would be done.

His panic had stopped Derek in his tracks. A glance at his friend’s face showed Spencer that Derek was having his own internal debate. Most likely the protective side of him was wanting to, obviously, protect, but the other part of him would want to honor his friend’s wishes.

A sudden cough from the car interrupted the tense silence. Spencer’s eyes snapped forward as the car gave another cough, and then sputtered. Then he felt it slowing down. As Derek’s cursing filled the car and they slowly came to a complete stop, all Spencer could think was _Really? Just…really?_

“Dammit!” Derek slammed his hands against the wheel. He tried to turn it over, but no sound came out. His cursing grew louder and steadier. He reached down under the wheel and pulled something before climbing from the rig. His door slammed shut behind him. Even so, Spencer shivered from that small gust of wind that came in. He found himself watching Derek pop the hood of the car to look underneath.

 _It isn’t going to work_ he thought to himself. _Not with my luck lately_. No, with his luck they’d most likely be stranded here and buried in a snow bank and freeze to death. As soon as he thought that, statistics filled his head, telling him exactly how unlikely that outcome was. Spencer chewed on the inside of his lip. He just didn’t have it in him to be irrational. Logic and facts always won out in his mind.

The sound of the hood slamming shut startled him from his thoughts and had him jumping. He knew by the look on Derek’s face that the car wasn’t going to start back up. Well, wasn’t this just going to fit in _great_ with his day! He’d freeze trying to get back to the station. Not that he really had much of a choice. His eyes scanned the road around them, trying to look through the still falling snow. It was dark out, which made it a little difficult to read the street signs. Plus, his contacts had been irritating him and his glasses were in his coat pocket. So it took him until Derek was in the car and the door was shut again before he could force his eyes to read the street sign.

“We’re on Killingsworth.” Spencer said, cutting into Derek’s grumbling curses. “The station is about three blocks dead ahead and then two point five blocks left. We should be able to make it just fine.”

“Walk? Kid, it’s like, twenty degrees out there.”

“Hypothermia settles into the body when your core temperature drops below the required temperature for metabolism and other body functions, which is about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. So long as we move quickly and keep the blood flowing, we have a better chance walking there than sitting here in the car and waiting.”

The little mini lecture had Derek eyeing him. Those close to him knew he rambled when he was nervous. Well, ok, he rambled all the time anyways, but even _more_ when he was nervous. And right at that moment, Spencer was nervous. He didn’t want to get out of the heat of the car. He didn’t want to walk in the cold for five point five blocks without a jacket.

Before he could change his mind on it, he sucked in a deep breath and then reached for his door handle. He was out of the car, door closed, before Derek had even finished opening his door.

The first blast of wind was the worst. Spencer crossed his arms, shoving his hands into his armpits. At least he had on a long sleeved shirt. Thank God for that. Now, if only he’d worn the sweater instead of the sweater vest. Still, no use lamenting over something that was done and over with. He forced himself to ignore the wind, ignore the snow landing in his hair and going down the back of his shirt, and even ignore the way the snow was already soaking into his shoes.

He barely gave Derek a second to catch up before he was starting down the sidewalk. He heard his friend start to jog behind him, trying to keep up. Spencer’s long legs were trying to eat up the distance between there and the station.

“Hey.” Derek put his hand on Spencer’s shoulder as he finally caught up to him. “Damn, you got some long legs, Reid.”

Spencer gave a jerky nod. He didn’t trust himself to answer without shivering and stuttering. But he almost groaned when Derek’s hand moved to his other shoulder, pulling him against Derek’s side. Oh, Derek was _warm_. He couldn’t stop from leaning into him. The arm that was around his shoulders shifted a little, so it was completely covering the back of his neck, keeping the snow from his shirt.

He must have made some sound, because Derek chuckled. But then another gust blew and Spencer shivered convulsively. His teeth clacked together with the force of it. He heard Derek’s muffled curse and then the arm around him was suddenly gone. Spencer almost moaned at that loss. He had to force his feet to keep moving, one step after another. They’d made it a block and a half already and he was feeling like he was frozen solid.

A hand on his arm stopped Spencer. He turned, intending to ask Derek what was going on, but something was suddenly yanked over his head. The first thought that came to mind was panic. His body jerked and went tense and his mind spun. One hand instinctively dropped down to where his gun sat.

His sense of smell was what calmed him down first. Whatever was being pulled over his head had a smell he was more than familiar with. One that had driven him crazy on multiple occasions. Derek’s cologne. That was enough to keep him still as whatever it was got yanked further down and his head suddenly popped out the top, a hood settling over his head. A sweater? He blinked, finding Derek standing in front of him, grinning like a lunatic. “I had the sweater on under my coat. Couldn’t just watch you freeze, kid.”

“W-What a-a-a-about y-you?” Spencer stammered out. Not that he was going to give the sweater back. He pushed his arms into the sleeves, not even bothering to bring his hands out the ends. The thing hung on him, obviously a few sizes too big, but it was still warm from being on Derek’s body and it felt like Heaven.

Derek grinned and slung his arm back over Spencer’s shoulders. The two started back down the road together. “I’ve got my jacket here, Reid. I’ll stay warm. Plus, you forget, I’m used to Chicago weather. This is nothing.”

“I d-d-didn’t f-forget.” Spencer protested. He didn’t forget facts like that!

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

The two walked in a companionable silence down the road for a while. At one point when Spencer felt himself start to stumble, Derek’s arm braced him and helped him keep his feet. He flashed him a quick smile of thanks before ducking back into the hood, trying to shelter himself as much as possible. It was when they made the turn off of Killingsworth and onto Sterling Avenue that Derek finally spoke again.

“I want to let things go like you asked, Reid. I really do. But if someone’s giving you trouble here, I can’t just not do something about it. You’re my best friend.”

Barely Spencer resisted sighing. He’d known this was going to come. Derek wasn’t the type to just let something like this go. He’d pick and pick at it until he was satisfied with what he got from it. It was one of the things that could be the most annoying and yet the most endearing about him. Right now, though, it meant that he was going to have to give Derek something, or he’d pick at it until they were home again; maybe even beyond that.

“It’s n-n-not anything s-serious.” Spencer said slowly, trying to force himself not to stutter as he shivered. “I c-can handle s-some t-things, Derek. If y-you s-step in, i-i-it’ll just m-make it w-w-worse. But I p-promise that I w-will t-tell you if it g-gets too m-m-much.” That was all he could offer his friend. Even that was hard for him to promise. He was too used to dealing with things on his own. Making a promise to ask for help was a big thing for him. Derek, of all people, knew that.

He gave Spencer a soft squeeze. “I’m gonna hold you to that, Reid. I’m just a little worried about your definition of ‘too much’.”

A reluctant smile curved Spencer’s lips. “You t-t-trying to i-imply s-s-something?”

“Oh, you mean like how you use your giant IQ to twist words and things to your advantage when it suits you? Would I really imply something like that?”

“Would I r-really d-do s-s-something like t-that?” Spencer fired back. His good mood was growing with each barb they exchanged and each step that drew them closer to the station. He could see it now, about a block away.

Derek’s laugh echoed around them, warming Spencer from the inside out. He loved listening to Derek laugh. “Would you, pretty boy? More like, when haven’t you?”

“Hey I r-r-resent t-that! I a-always t-t-tell the t-truth!”

“You do. But your definitions of some things vary a little from the rest of the worlds.”

That was truth; there was no way he could deny that. So he settled for bumping his shoulder into Derek and grinning. His friend squeezed him in response. It was moments like these that Spencer cherished the most. Not the cold part, obviously. But this camaraderie that he had never before felt. No one else in the world relaxed him the way that Derek could. With no one else did he feel as safe. Not just physically, though it was hard not to feel physically safe standing with Derek Morgan. But emotionally and mentally as well.

Spencer knew he could say pretty much anything to Derek and it would be ok. Derek would either fight back with him if he was so inclined, or he would be there to help him through things or to make him laugh. They joked together, picked on one another, bickered, and just had an all-around good time. More than once Garcia had teased them that they acted like an old married couple. Yet, despite all the teasing, neither would have changed it for the world. Derek was the first true friend that Spencer could really remember in his life. He had been the first one to break through Spencer’s walls, aside from Gideon, allowing the others to find room in his heart. If Spencer found himself feeling things that weren’t exactly familial, well, that was his problem. He kept the thoughts and feelings to himself and had learned a long time ago to work around the attraction he felt for the older man.

The hand on his shoulder gave a soft pinch in retaliation to the shoulder jab, pulling Spencer out of his thoughts and almost making him squeal. Just barely he managed to keep that reaction inside. Wouldn’t that just give Derek perfect ammunition? A squealing Spencer Reid. Oh yeah, that was a manly sound.

The lights of the station grew brighter as they closed the last little bit of distance. Spencer slanted a look at Derek, trying to glare at the man who had almost made him squeal. He used the bagginess of the sweater to hide his movement so that Derek didn’t see as Spencer shifted his hand. He poked Derek’s ribs, right where he knew he was ticklish, making the older man suck in a surprised breath and jump slightly to the side. It made Spencer laugh. Goofing off with his best friend never failed to make him relax.

NEXT PART

Their laughter preceded them into the station, drawing all eyes towards them. Realizing that, Spencer felt his face flush. He could just imagine the image they presented to the room. Him, wrapped in Derek’s sweater, looking like a kid wearing his dad’s clothes, with Derek’s arm wrapped around his shoulder and the both of them covered in snow and grinning.

When Spencer would have ducked away from his friend, moving somewhere to hide from the laughter that was starting, Derek just tugged him along through the room and back towards the evidence boards, where the rest of the team was waiting. Emily and Dave were both grinning and even Aaron looked like he wanted to smile.

“Car broke down a few blocks away.” Derek said. He maneuvered them both towards the chairs, pulling one out and practically pushing Spencer down into it. “The lady never answered her door, Hotch. We looked in the window, but I didn’t see anything. Got me kind of worried but there’s not really anything to do until tomorrow. I’ll go try again in the morning.”

As he was talking, Derek had moved toward the coffee pot. He came back now and held the mug out toward Spencer, not even looking over at him while making his report. Spencer grinned and brought his hands out of his sleeves. _Bless best friends_ he thought to himself as he took the mug in his frozen hands. _No one knows you better_.

“Nice sweater, Reid.” Emily teased him, sitting down on the other side of the table to grin at him.

Still feeling happy from joking with Derek, he had to resist sticking his tongue out at her. “It was cold out there.” He defended himself. The first drink he took of his coffee almost made him moan at the joy and warmth of it.

“You look like you could swim in the thing, kiddo.” Dave added in. His eyes were twinkling with good humor.

Spencer raised an eyebrow at him. “That would be physically impossible. It would drag me down to the bottom of any body of…” He trailed off as the others looked at him. The flush on his cheeks grew. Oh. Dave hadn’t meant that literally. His blush made his teammates laugh at him, even Aaron.

While the rest of the team discussed the information they had present, Spencer rose to his feet and moved toward his board, still clutching the cup in one hand. His feet were still soaked and he was looking forward to going and putting on dry clothes, but he couldn’t just sit there, knowing that everything he’d put up was still in the wrong place. Maybe it was a little obsessive compulsive, but what was one more quirk in life, right?

As Spencer put another piece back where it was supposed to go, his mind wandered over the facts laid out before him. Something about their profile had been off. They couldn’t seem to pin down the comfort zone to go with their Unsub. At least, not one of a small enough size to work with.

He seemingly killed without bias over race or age, sticking only to females. But none of them were the same type. None were even dumped in remotely the same area.

Three minutes later, he had everything back where it was supposed to go and he took a step back so he could look at it as a whole. All the homes were mapped out, as well as the dump sites and the abduction sites. The man kept each woman for only forty-eight hours. Short, in the scheme of things, yet an eternity to the person being held.

Something jumped out at him, not quite forming into an idea yet. But it was the start of one. He furrowed his brows, stepping up close again. Just vaguely he heard someone step up beside him but the person didn’t speak so he didn’t bother paying them any attention.

Maybe he’d been looking at it wrong the entire time. He’d been trying to narrow down the area based off of the abduction and dump sites, because that usually indicated the area an Unsub was comfortable in for this type of profile. But, none of it was working. He was ending up with a whole lot of nothing. But, his eyes ghosted over the victim homes. More specifically, the street names.

“Could it really be that simple?” He muttered. He quirked his head, pulling inside his mind for a moment to scan over the files he’d read earlier.

Behind him he could hear a male voice, someone he didn’t know, ask “Is he ok?”

“Yeah, he’s fine.” Aaron’s voice replied casually.

That other voice again. “What is he doing? He looks like he’s spaced off at the wall.”

This time Dave was the one to answer. “He’s reading.”

Spencer ignored them. In his mind he flipped through the pages of the files, searching for the clues he wanted. Another part of his brain was registering the conversation around him, trying to pay attention to see if someone was going to speak to him. It was a skill he’d learned at a young age, though he wasn’t always very good at it. Working with the team had helped considerably.

“Reading? But he doesn’t even having anything to read.” A new man’s voice asked.

“Yeah he does.” Derek spoke up, his voice close. He must have been the one to stand beside Spencer. “He has an eidetic memory. Perfect recall on the stuff he reads. He must be onto something, Hotch. He’s got that constipated look and he’s muttering to himself again.”

Any other time, Spencer might have protested Derek’s choice of words, but he’d just found what it was he was looking for. That was it! That was why it all seemed wrong. It _was_ wrong! Hastily he took a drink of his coffee before shoving it in the direction he thought Derek might be. Luck would have it, his friend took the cup right as he let go. Then Spencer was darting over, grabbing the pens from the bottom of his board.

How on earth could they have missed it? “It makes perfect sense.” He muttered to himself, eyeing the map. He took the blue, tracing a straight line from one point to another. “I can’t believe I missed this.”

“Missed what?” One of those strange male voices asked. “What’d you find out?”

“It was all wrong. I knew something wasn’t right, but I didn’t look at it well enough. I wasn’t paying enough attention.” Spencer grabbed one of his push pins and put it on a new spot on the map. The instant that he did, he knew he was right. It made perfect sense. This would narrow things down completely! No wonder his geographic profile had been so big before. He hadn’t had all the correct information to work with.

“Hey, hello! I asked what you found out.” That voice repeated.

Spencer ignored him again. He was too busy with what he was doing. Thankfully he heard Aaron step up. “Give him a minute to work it through. He’ll tell us when he’s done.” He told the strange guy. That was also a message for Spencer to hurry up and explain what it was he’d found. He heard Derek laugh too and add in “You won’t get an answer till he’s done anyways. He hears you, he’s just ignoring you. There’s only one way to get his attention. Watch.”

There was the sound of footsteps. Spencer’s face drew down into a look of concentration. He knew Derek was going to do something, part of his brain was still logging it all away, but the biggest part of him was focused on the lines he was drawing from here to there.  Then his coffee cup came into view. Balancing one pen between his fingers, still drawing with the other one, Spencer took the cup and took a drink, handing it back to his friend. He ignored the chuckles that were suddenly behind him.

After two more lines, Spencer finally stepped back. “There.” He said finally. Though he couldn’t see it, the others watched as his eyes cleared a little and focused back on them. “There’s the Unsub’s comfort zone. I almost guarantee he doesn’t live anywhere inside of there, though.”

“I thought this geographical thing was supposed to tell us where he lived?” The strange voice asked again. For the first time, Spencer turned to look at the man it belonged to. He didn’t quite recognize him, but the nametag said Officer Sparks. Spencer couldn’t stop himself from giving the guy a funny look. He set his pens down, still looking at the Officer. “Not necessarily.” He told him.

Absently he reached out and took his cup back from Derek. “Geographic profiling analyzes the locations of a connected series of crimes to determine the most probable area of the Unsub’s residence, yes.” Without realizing it, Spencer slipped into lecture mode, focusing on Officer Sparks. “By incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods, it assists in understanding spatial behavior of an Unsub and it helps us to focus the investigation to a smaller area of the community.”

Warmed up to the topic, Spencer turned a little to gesture to the map beside him. “In addition to determining the Unsub’s most likely area of residence, an understanding of the spatial pattern of a crime series and the characteristics of the crime sites can tell us other useful information, such as whether the crime was opportunistic and the degree of his familiarity with the crime location. This is based on the connection between an Unsub’s hunting behavior and his or her non-criminal life.”

Officer Sparks had his eyebrows raised, staring openly at Spencer now, as were a few other officers. Color flooded his cheeks. It didn’t help that most of his team was grinning.

“Reid?” Aaron stepped up. “What did you find?”

Still blushing, Spencer turned to his Unit Chief. “Well, uh, I was looking at it and I, well, nothing was looking right. See, all of these weren’t, um, they weren’t matching up properly in the pattern.” He almost fumbled his coffee cup as he tried to point things out to Aaron. “See, I had a comfort zone built but it was much larger than it should have been. But then I remembered something that I can’t believe I did not think of before.”

“What?” Derek asked curiously. He and the others had moved up by him. In the middle of his new information and his disbelief in himself for missing this, Spencer barely noticed them.

“Well, the victims were abducted from all their homes, right? But Casey Johnson…” Spencer pointed to her picture beside the map and then moved his hand to one of his markers. “We had her listed as living here. But in her file I’d completely forgotten that she’d just moved to this apartment with a friend. She didn’t fit into the rest of my calculations and that’s why. She moved into her apartment only two days prior to her abduction. But, before that, she lived here.” He moved his finger, pointing to the new marker he’d put in.

Officer Sparks looked at him questioningly. “So?”

That floored Spencer for a minute. So? That’s what the guy had to say? _So_? Didn’t he understand the significance of this?

It was Aaron who took a moment to explain to the room the significance of what Spencer had been saying. It didn’t matter anymore. The young genius was already sucked back into his map. Something else tugged at him. The more he stared at the map, the more he was certain there was something he was missing.

“What is it, though?” He muttered. He lifted his hands, pointing to different locations on the map. “No, that doesn’t match.” He looked to the right. “But maybe…no. No, that’s not right. What is it?”

“What’s eating at you now, kid?”

Because it was Derek, Spencer actually answered, his voice slightly absent as he thought about it. “There’s something I’m missing here. Not wrong, per se. Just, absent. I feel like I’m missing some important variable in this equation.”

“Like what? It looks to me like you’ve got everything up here.”

“I do. But, all right. Look at this. I’ve got the houses all marked as well as the locations of the disposal sights and the sights of the abductions. Yet none of it is tying together. Victimology is all over the map, so to speak.”

Derek stepped up beside him, nodding. He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at all the information before them. “We haven’t been able to tie the victims together. They didn’t go to the same places, didn’t look the same. None of that. I mean, their addresses are close, but not so close that I’d think it was overtly significant.”

“Their addresses…” Spencer froze, his eyes going wide as his brain started to race. That was it! “I knew it!” He exclaimed, stepping up close to the map so he could see it better. His contacts were driving him up the wall. He could barely see around them. “Look, Morgan, right here. Look at how the houses are laid out in comparison to the others.”

Starting his finger at the first victim, Spencer trailed that finger along the road, taking all the curves along the way, passing by each victim’s home as he went.

Behind them, Dave spoke up. “They’re all along that road. But we already knew they were close.”

“But it’s not just that they’re along the same road.” Excited, Spencer turned and gestured as he spoke. “They’re all along the same _route_. What’s one person that would be there early morning for all the abductions, except for Casey? Someone who would be there at that early of an hour, every single day, along this same route.”

Derek’s eyes grew wide as well. “A paper man or a mailman.” He breathed out. “He’d see them every single day. Maybe even be able to stay outside for a moment and watch them get their paper. Or observe them as he delivers to the other houses.”

“He’d be someone the community would be used to seeing.” Emily added in. “They’d never think twice about seeing his vehicle on the streets. And he’d have the perfect space to hide someone in after abducting them in.”

Aaron already had his phone to his ear. “Garcia, I need you to find out who runs the…”

As the team moved away, Spencer let out a soft breath. He’d finally figured out what it was that had been bugging him about all this. About time, too. If only he’d been able to move a little bit faster, notice this a little bit sooner, he might have saved at least one other life. Potentially even more than that.

“Good work, Spence.” JJ said beside him, startling him from his thoughts. He jumped slightly before turning to look at her. “Oh! Thanks, JJ.”

“Now Garcia will ‘work her magic’ and hopefully we’ll get this Unsub collared before he hurts another woman.”

“They’ll want to go tonight, even in the snow.” Spencer said, looking to where Aaron was just hanging up his phone. The look on his face told Spencer that they’d found the guy. “See, they’ve found him. They’ll go get him now before he takes another girl in the morning. It’s too risky to wait.”

His eyes scanned the group, looking absently at them all. He knew that Aaron would have him stay here so he wasn’t worrying about getting ready to go. Right about then he would have been a liability in the field. Already partially wet from the snow and half frozen, he’d just get worse out there and they’d end up protecting him more than he’d end up helping. Much as he hated it, he knew he was going to be stuck here.

JJ said something else to him, but it was lost as Spencer caught sight of Derek. For a single instant, Spencer’s brain went completely and utterly blank. Then, the only thought he could form was _Oh Shit_. Derek was standing by the two detectives who had been giving Spencer so much trouble. In his hand was Spencer’s jacket. Derek bent, hands on the desk, hissing something at them.

When Aaron called for him, Derek gave the two men one of his hardest smiles, straightening up. He turned and tossed Spencer’s coat where it had originally been, in a chair, and then he was flashing a grin at Spencer and heading after the team.

“Reid, you stay here with JJ.” Aaron called out, already moving to the door. “If Garcia discovers anything else that might be important, you feed it to us.”

“Got it.” Spencer managed to croak out. His throat felt tight.

Damn Derek Morgan! Hadn’t he told the older man to let him deal with this on his own? Spencer could feel the two detectives glaring at him. A moment later, the chief of police was walking over, gesturing to the two to follow him. A bad feeling settled in the pit of Spencer’s stomach.

NEXT PART

For thirty minutes he stood there, pretending to do something with a file in his hands, watching the scene in the office play out. He glanced at the clock, hoping his team would be back before they got done in there. From what he’d heard, it was only a ten minute drive from the station to the Unsub’s home. They should only be an hour, max. Right? He hoped so.

The two detectives rose from their chairs inside the office and Spencer knew he couldn’t stay where he was. Their bodies were screaming rage to anyone who knew how to read body language. He didn’t intend on being around when they came out, looking to vent their spleen. Stiffly he walked to his coat, reaching in to grab his cell phone and his glasses. “Hey, JJ, I’ll be right back, ok?” Despite his efforts to sound normal, his voice came out slightly strained.

Instant concern was on JJ’s face. “You ok, Spence?”

“Yes. I just need to get these contacts out. This new solution is starting to irritate my eyes and I’m having a hard time seeing.” It was the truth, just not the whole truth.  Her expression said that she didn’t quite believe him, but she let it slide and waved him off.

Spencer couldn’t get out of there fast enough. The last thing he wanted was to be around when those guys came out of the chief’s office. Had Derek told the chief what was going on? Spencer didn’t think so, it didn’t make sense. Derek was the type to try and handle it, man to man, so to speak. But…if Aaron or Dave had heard him, or he’d mentioned anything to them, they might have reported the officers to their superior.

Oh, he hoped he was wrong. He hoped they were in trouble for a whole different reason. Otherwise, the little time they had left here was going to suck. If the Unsub was caught tonight, at least that meant that they’d be leaving the next day.

Spencer ducked into the bathroom. He took a few minutes to simply breathe and calm himself down. Then, after reassuring himself that he was overreacting and that everything was going to be fine, he took out his disposable contacts and threw them away. After rinsing his face and eyes, he slid his glasses back on, thankful to be able to see normally again. He straightened his spine and gave himself one last look in the mirror. He was right, he was overreacting to this. There was no way they were in trouble because of him. He hadn’t said anything. With that last thought, he stepped from the bathroom and right into a pair of waiting arms.

Spencer’s first reaction had him trying to lurch backwards, away from the body he’d slammed into. Away from the touch he didn’t know. But the arms around him shifted, hands moving to grip his upper arms and hold him in place. A moment later, just as Spencer opened his mouth to speak, he felt a piece of duct tape cover his mouth.

That was when he got his first look at the person holding him. Everything inside of him froze. Oh, no. Detective Jameson. Most definitely the dominate. His partner, Detective Curtis, was easily the submissive. His mind categorized them, his profiler instincts kicking in. Then his baser instincts kicked in, bred into him from years of being the outlet for bullies.

He went utterly limp, making his body as much dead weight as possible. It surprised Jameson, who had to try and shift his grip. Spencer took advantage of that and brought his hands up, shoving at Jameson’s arms, momentarily breaking his grip. Spencer didn’t waste any time. Instantly he tried to run. But hands grabbed at his sweater, yanking him back again, slamming him into a wall. While his head spun, he felt something grabbing at his wrists and tried his hardest to fight back.

He kicked out with his feet, landing one hit against Jameson’s leg. Somehow he managed to stomp Curtis’s foot, making the man curse. But the two of them combined were too strong for Spencer. They suddenly had his hands cuffed in front of him. Then a fist rammed into his gut and Spencer couldn’t breathe, the tape keeping the air from slipping from his mouth. Breathing through his nose, combined with the punch taking his air away, made him light headed. Because of that, he barely noticed at first when they picked him up and carried him off.

What brought him back to life was the feeling of the cold air suddenly hitting him. _They were outside_. He tried to buck against their hands, to struggle free somehow, but they tightened their grip on him.

The two men took him to the parking lot, out of view of the front windows. There they dropped him down to the ground, kicking his stomach so that he couldn’t fight back as they grabbed his wrists. There was another metallic sound from the handcuffs as they swiftly unhooked one wrist, slid the cuff through the front grill of a cop car and re-cuffed his wrist. Horror widened Spencer’s eyes. They were going to leave him here, in the cold. In the cold! They could kill him!

Jameson stood over him, a satisfied look on his face. “There.” He spat out. “Isn’t that perfect? Little genius boy, left out in the cold. It’s no more than you deserve you little snot nosed punk.”

His comments made Curtis chuckle. Bolstered by that, Jameson grinned. “You thought you were better than us? Sending your _boyfriend_ to come harass us because you ‘misplaced’ your coat. That was bullshit, you little punk. You don’t even deserve to be an officer! You’re just a kid who has more brains than he’s worth. You think you’re better than us? We _worked_ to get where we are!”

“That’s right!” Curtis threw in. He spat on the ground by Spencer, who barely managed to dodge it. Spencer stared at them, wide eyed as they cursed him. “You think you’ll get us in trouble for this too, but you can’t.” Curtis continued. “Chief already suspended us for two weeks, no pay. Said he’d heard too much about our ‘harassment’. Not our fault people are bitches and can’t take a damn joke.”

“So, we thought we’d show them who the bitch was here.” Jameson sneered. “Let’s see how you stand it out here in the cold. If you’re tough enough to be a cop, you should be able to handle the hour till your team comes back.”

Hour? There’s no way in hell he would survive for an hour out in this without some form of hypothermia! JJ would come find him. She’d notice he was gone. Plus, another ten minutes had to have passed. Maybe even fifteen. The team should be back any time now. He had to pray that they would be.

Jameson’s foot shot out again, this time connecting with Spencer’s face as he tried to dodge it. Pain exploded through his nose. It colored his whole world for a moment. He distantly heard Jameson’s voice. “Let’s leave him here, Curtis, before someone comes. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Later, little boy.” They both called out as they turned and left him there on his knees in the snow, blood pouring from his nose.

Spencer paid no more attention to them. All his attention was focused on the pain in his nose. But, more than that, on the blood pouring from his nose. He knew a nosebleed was nothing, it would be fine. Might be broken, but that was fixable. What worried him was losing the ability to breathe through his nose.

His fingers almost felt numb as he lifted them as far as the cuffs would allow. He bent his head down, trying to get his fingers near the tape. He had to pull it off so he could breathe! It took what felt like forever before he could make his fingers grip the end of the tape. With one pull of his head, the tape ripped off his mouth, pulling some skin off his lips. He couldn’t stop the whimper that slid out.

Damn them! What on earth had he done to them? What had he done that justified them chaining him to a car in the freezing cold? Nothing! Why couldn’t Derek have just left this alone? Anger coursed in Spencer. It was easier to focus on than the cold that was seeping down into him, or the wet that was soaking his corduroys. If Derek had just done what he’d asked and let him handle this on his own, then those _bastards_ wouldn’t have been so furious with him!

The logical side of Spencer’s brain rebelled at that thought. This wasn’t Derek’s fault. He knew that. Whether Derek had said something or not, it was obvious the two detectives had already been heading for trouble this evening. The chief would have probably talked to them anyways and they still would have taken it out on him. Men like that were compelled to take things out on people like him.

But it just…it wasn’t fair! He was an adult now. He was an FBI agent! Shouldn’t he have at least earned a small amount of respect in life? Other men did! But oh no, not him! No, he was still stuck being the nerdy kid in a group of bullies that seemed to just be drawn to him like bees to honey. It was like he carried around a sign that said ‘Pick on me!’ or something like that.

The wind blew and took away Spencer’s train of thought. His whole body shivered, clanging his hands against the ice cold cuffs. He shifted closer to the rig despite the cold metal that pressed into him. He needed to try and see if his nose was broken and if he could get it to stop bleeding. He also needed to move as much as possible.

They’d chained him to the lowest part of the grill so there was no way he could stand his lanky body completely upright. He settled for moving off his knees and to his feet, into a squatting position. That also allowed him to bend enough to try and touch his nose. The first contact of fingers to skin had him hissing in pain. It was broken, all right. Hadn’t stopped bleeding either. It would be ideal if he could set it, but that would most likely make a huge knot in his nose. Better to have a professional do it. If he set it wrong, they’d have to use a mallet on his nose later to try and straighten it out. The thought of that had him recoiling.

So he turned his thoughts towards trying to get warm. He inched forward, moving as close to where he was chained as he possibly could. It gave his body a slight huddle that added some warmth for him, though not much. The warmth from Derek’s sweater was long gone by now. He could only be thankful that he still had it on, though, or he’d be even colder than he already was.

His ribs protested to this scrunched position. He tried to detach from it, to think clinically. He’d had broken ribs before. If they were broken now, he wouldn’t be able to squat and bend like this. They would be causing him excruciating pain. This meant that most likely he was just bruised. That was good. That was positive. Better that than broken ribs.

Suddenly Spencer went completely still. His phone! He cursed himself for being three kinds of fool. His phone was in his pocket! If he could get it, he could call JJ and she could come get him. But, it was in his pants pocket. He tried to raise enough to reach his pocket, but his hands were pointing upwards because of the cuffs, which meant he couldn’t twist them to point downwards. He tried his hardest, trying to shift around just enough to angle his hip, but he couldn’t get the right movement. His wrists screamed their protest and his head started to spin a little.

 _Think, Spencer! Think. Don’t panic. Use your brain_ he ordered himself. He shifted again, easing his wrists, and looked around himself. Ok, there was nothing he could reach for to help him. Nothing was in reach anyways but the car he was stuck to. But, maybe if he moved just right against the bumper, he could push his phone out of his pocket. Then he could pick the phone up with his feet and raise it to his hands. It would mean getting the rest of his pants wet, but that was better than being stuck out here.

Plan firmly in mind, he started pushing his hip against the bumper, trying his hardest to dislodge the phone in his pocket. He ignored the shivers that were running up and down his body, growing stronger and stronger as he got colder and colder. His glasses were almost soaked, making it hard to see, but he didn’t let it stop him. He just focused on what he was trying to do.

After a few minutes of struggling, he was rewarded when his phone popped out of his pocket to land in the snow. Now came the hard part. His body rebelled against what his mind was telling him to do. He forced his legs to move, to stretch a foot out in the snow and hook his phone, pulling it toward him a little more. Unfortunately that also pulled over a small pile of snow.

_Now, sit down. Just move your legs and sit down in the snow. It’ll just be for a minute until you can get the phone in your hands. Your body temperature is dropping; you’re shivering worse and worse. Soon, you’ll stop shivering altogether. Your toes and fingers are already feeling numb. Your body only needs to drop below ninety-five degrees before hypothermia sets in._

He had to stop that thought in its tracks before he sent himself into a panic. He forced his legs to move again, to lower himself slowly to the ground. The feel of the snow against his pants was a physical shock. He tried to yank back up but the muscles in his legs gave out, dropping him down into the snow. It took another minute before he could breathe normally and remember what he was supposed to be doing. _Get the phone, Spencer Reid. Do not just sit here in the snow like an idiot._ He pushed a foot forward, then the other, trying to pinch his phone between the two. But his feet didn’t seem to want to work right. He got the phone between the two and tried to lift it but the phone fell. Again and again he tried, wanting to weep each time it fell down. Finally he couldn’t even seem to get his feet to push together.

His whole lower half was freezing, his body couldn’t seem to stop shivering and his nose felt like it was throbbing in tune with his heartbeat. His stomach ached and his hands were going numb. His head slid against the car’s bumper with a whimper. _Someone, help me._ He thought to himself. _Please._

 

 

NEXT PART

Miserable, Spencer barely noticed a sound behind him; didn’t register it as tires rolling over the snow. He did hear the next sound, realizing it was a car door after a minute of contemplation. When he turned his head, he saw figures moving toward the station, someone in the middle of them with handcuffs on his wrists. Almost too late he realized that he needed to call out to make them notice he was there. They hadn’t seen him!

“Hey!” He tried to yell. His voice was barely a croak. Drawing air, he tried again. They were almost to the door! “Hey! Over here!”

This time the group stopped, a few heads turning. Spencer almost wept from joy. “Over here!” he cried again, his lip cracking and bleeding from where the tape had pulled off skin. “Hey!”

A curse reached his ears, muffled by the wind. He watched as the prisoner was handed off to a few cops—he could only tell they were cops by their dark blue uniforms—and then four people were running toward him. Spencer didn’t realize that tears were sliding down his numb cheeks until he felt them drip off.

The first person to reach him was Derek. He was the most beautiful sight Spencer had ever seen. A part of his brain told him that he would have thought that about anyone who came up to save him at the moment but he didn’t care. “M-M-Morgan.” He breathed out.

“Jesus, Reid! What the hell happened?” Derek cried. He tried to move Spencer, to help him up off the ground, but was met with resistance. Just as the others reached them, Derek saw the handcuffs. His curses echoed in the night around them. “Hotch! He’s handcuffed to the car!” he called right as Emily exclaimed “God, look at all the blood!”

Aaron dropped to his knees right beside Spencer, hands going to the cuffs. “Prentiss, get in the station and get us a set of keys. Any keys! They all should work.” He snapped out. While Emily raced off, Aaron wrapped his hands around Spencer’s, trying to put heat into them. He didn’t chafe them, just rubbed lightly to stimulate the heat. “Reid, what happened? These look like standard issue cuffs.”

Just as he tried to answer, Spencer felt Derek squat behind him, wrapping his arms around him to add warmth. A low moan slid past his lips. He leaned back instinctively into that heat, trying to chase away the chill. Oh man, it felt so _good_!

Dave was stripping off his jacket, using it to wrap around Spencer’s legs and feet as he lifted them out of the snow. “His nose looks broken.” He told the others. “Reid, are you hurt anywhere else?”

He tried to answer, he really did. But he couldn’t seem to stop shivering long enough to force the words out. So he settled for turning his head into Derek’s arm, trying to warm his face against his friend’s jacket.

A sound alerted them that Emily was coming, as well as someone else. He didn’t realize who it was until he heard a voice cry out “Spence!”

That was JJ. He knew the sound of her voice. Everyone was there. Embarrassment might have played a factor at any other time, yet at the moment he could feel nothing but relief and heat. Blessed heat. His eyes tried to slide closed. It took great effort to force them to stay open. He watched as Aaron took the keys, unlocking first one wrist and then the other. Then he found himself pulled into a pair of strong arms, being carried bridal style. It took longer than he liked to figure out who was carrying him. Derek.

Light and heat suddenly assailed him and he couldn’t keep his moan in. Next were voices. It seemed everyone was talking all at once. He held in the next moan that tried to slip out and turned instead to face Derek’s chest, trying to hide from all the light and sound. Then he heard Derek’s low voice murmuring to him. “Just a second, pretty boy, we’ll get you somewhere warm and quiet.” That eased him a little. He trusted Derek.

Another voice called through the room, ringing in Spencer’s ears. “Get back, get back!” A man bellowed. “Bring him in here, Agents. Someone go get the EMTs!”

There were EMT’s there? Why on earth were there EMTs? That was something important. Something he felt he should know. He tried to lift his head to look at Derek’s face but it hurt too much. So he stayed buried against Derek’s shoulder as he tried to talk. “W-W-Who g-got h-h-hurt?”

“Rossi had to clip the Unsub, kid. Don’t worry about it. They had paramedics meet us here. Just caught the guy’s arm, he’ll be fine. Good thing they’re here, too, so they can make sure you’re ok and look at that nose of yours.”

He wanted to give some smart response, something like he might usually do, but his shivers were making it hard for him to talk. His teeth kept clicking together. He did sigh as the lights around him went slightly dimmer. They’d moved rooms, apparently.

“Sir?” A female voice broke into the room. Spencer realized he didn’t know that voice. It wasn’t Emily or JJ. Who was that? He didn’t bother opening his eyes—when had he closed them?—to look around. They couldn’t be talking to him. Most likely it was Aaron they were talking to. Aaron was the one everyone automatically called ‘Sir’.

Something touched Spencer’s arm, then, startling him from his thoughts. His instincts took over and he jerked in Derek’s arms, trying to move away from the unfamiliar touch. His hands tried to curl into Derek’s jacket or his shirt, anything to grip on to so that he would be reassured that his friend was there with him.

“Whoa, whoa.” Derek said soothingly. He shifted them both, moving and adjusting his arms. Then Spencer found himself even more enfolded in those strong arms and it felt like he was suddenly draped over Derek’s lap. The older profiler must have sat them down on something. It didn’t matter. Spencer knew he was safe, here, in Derek’s arms. He wouldn’t let people hurt him.  “Hey there, Reid. It’s just the EMT. She just wants to look at you, ok?” He felt Derek move a little and then he heard the soft rumble in Derek’s chest. “He’s a little skittish at being touched on a good day, ok? And his name is Dr. Spencer Reid.”

“A doctor?” The woman’s voice said with surprise. “Well, Dr. Reid, I’m Britney. You’re awfully young to be a doctor.”

“Not that kind of doctor.” Aaron said, his voice sounding close. In his mind, Spencer could picture Aaron towering over the woman, his usual glower on his face.

There was the sound of someone moving and Spencer felt the presence of someone near his side, the side that wasn’t pressed against Derek. “Dr. Reid, do you mind if I take a look at your nose?”

“I-It’s b-b-broken-n.” Spencer stammered out. “C-Can y-y-you j-just s-s-s-set it? I w-w-would b-but I c-can’t r-right n-n-now.”

There was silence for a moment. “Um, I can set it here, Dr. Reid. That’s part of my job, to be able to do small things like that. But if you wait till we get to the hospital, we’ll get it set straight and we’ll get you a little something for the pain. Is there anywhere else on you that hurts?”

His brain was stuck on only two parts of that sentence. He didn’t even pay attention as she asked about his other pain. “N-No.” He gasped out, interrupting her. This time he made his eyes open so he could look at the face of the woman near him. She was pretty, maybe in her mid-forties, and she had kind eyes. He didn’t care. “N-No h-hospital-l. N-No p-p-pain m-meds.”

Her blond eyebrows drew down over eyes that flashed with concern. “We need to get you to a hospital, Dr. Reid. You’re obviously suffering from hypothermia and we need to take care of your nose as well as any other injuries. I’d like you to walk out there, if possible. Get some circulation going.”

“N-No!” He exclaimed. He tried to make his voice firm, but it wasn’t working. “I w-w-won’t go.” Warmth from Derek’s body combined with his stress and fear had him moving beyond the shivering for a moment, making his words just a little clearer. “I d-don’t need a h-hospital. It’s o-only m-m-mild hypothermia. I n-need h-heat, m-m-movement and w-warm b-b-beverages, not h-hot. I’m n-not in d-d-danger of l-losing any l-limbs. I w-w-was only out f-f-for m-maybe f-fifteen minutes.”

“Just fifteen?” The woman commented skeptically. “I’m sorry, Doctor, but I don’t know that you’d be able to accurately guesstimate the time you were outside. We’d like to play this safe. You’re shivering hard and your symptoms suggest that you’ve been outside a while.”

Spencer forced himself to move, sitting up just slightly. It slid his bottom so that he was sitting next to Derek instead of on him, leaving his legs draped over the man’s lap. Derek kept an arm around him, the other hand going to rub Spencer’s calf in a soothing gesture, apparently not caring about Spencer’s wet clothes. The younger man looked right at the EMT to try and make her understand his words. “I w-w-was out f-for f-fifteen minutes, g-give or t-t-take f-forty f-five seconds. I c-c-can s-see the t-t-time and I k-know w-w-what time it w-was when I w-went out.”

When the woman continued to give a skeptical look, Dave stepped in, moving up to squat alongside Britney. “Reid has a…exceptional memory.” He explained to the woman. “It probably took him about ten seconds to look at the clock and calculate the time he was out there. If he says it was only fifteen minutes, I’d say he’s right.” Then he turned his eyes to Spencer. “But you should still go to the hospital for your nose, kiddo. Let them set it right or you’ll end up with a big knot there.”

“N-No!” Spencer argued. He tried to sound forceful, hating that it came out sounding pitiful and petulant instead. His eyes drifted to Aaron, begging understanding, then over to Derek. Didn’t they understand that he didn’t want to go? That he didn’t want to end up with the medication they would undoubtedly try to force on him?

Again it was Derek who stepped up to the rescue. “Why don’t we just set his nose here, since that’s what he wants, then we’ll get him back to the hotel and get him warmed up. We’ll be flying home tomorrow, so we can compromise and say that he’ll see the doctor at Quantico before he gets cleared back for duty again.”

“Fine.” Aaron said with a nod. To him, that was obviously all that needed to be said. His decision concerning his team was final. Spencer knew that if Aaron hadn’t agreed, he would have found himself in the back of an ambulance on the way to the hospital. There was just no refusing their Unit Chief.

Britney shook her head as she sighed. “Fine, but this is going to hurt. I don’t have all the things here to numb you up properly.” She turned her head, looking toward the back of the room, which Spencer was just realizing was the Chief’s office. Her partner stood at the back of the crowd there. “Bring the bag over, would you, Steve? You got the injections in there?”

“Got em!” Steven replied as he started to make his way over to them.

That had Spencer going stiff all over again. This time, though, he didn’t have to say a word. Aaron took care of it. “No narcotics.” He said sternly.

Britney tipped her head up to stare incredulously at him. “What?” Her eyes went over to Spencer, who nodded, and then back to Aaron. “Sir, this is going to be quite painful. I imagine his face is already severely painful. I understand you’re all big, bad, FBI agents, but he needs something for the pain.”

“His medical records clearly state that Dr. Spencer Reid does not take pain medication except by non-prescription or, in case of extreme emergency, non-narcotic.”

Dave put his hand on the woman’s shoulder to draw her gaze to him. “You can’t force it on him. If he could talk without stuttering and shivering, he’d be telling you the same thing. He doesn’t take narcotics or anything like that. Trust me, he’ll be fine.” Dave’s eyes flashed up to Derek. “Morgan’s got him.”

“That’s right.” Derek added. His one arm tightened around Spencer and his other locked around the younger man’s legs. “Grip onto me, pretty boy. Trust me, this is going to hurt.”

“I k-know.” Taking a deep breath, Spencer tried to prepare himself. “N-Not m-m-my f-first broken n-nose.”

Britney was grumbling to herself as she and Steve sifted through their bag. It was easier for Spencer to focus on Derek’s voice, though, as his friend laughed. “Really? Sounds like a story to me. How many times, kid?”

Gulping as he saw the cotton balls come out, Spencer felt himself pale a little. “F-Four.”

That drew almost all eyes to him. Each one of his teammates seemed surprised first, before understanding flooded their gazes. They all remembered how much he’d been bullied as a kid. Though they didn’t know the rest of his history…

Trying to dispel that, Spencer sought to break the tension, his eyes never leaving the EMT’s hands. “One t-t-time I w-was walking t-t-to the l-library. I w-w-was r-reading and w-walking. I d-didn’t r-realize I p-put on t-two wrong s-s-shoes. I t-t-tripped when I s-s-stepped on a r-r-rock and f-fell n-nose first into my b-b-book. Broke i-it o-on i-imp-pact.”

As he’d expected, his friends laughed at him, effectively breaking the tension, just like he’d wanted. He didn’t mind his friends laughing at his expense. He knew it wasn’t done in a malicious sense.

His humor faded, though, when Britney moved onto her knees beside the couch, gloves on her hands. She held a cloth in her hand. “Ok, Dr. Reid, I’m going to need you to blow into this for me to clear out your nose.”

“I k-know the p-p-procedure.” He took the cloth from her, prepping himself for the pain that was about to come. He used a trick he had learned a long time ago and pulled down inside of his brain, trying to effectively shut off the outside world. It allowed him to do what was necessary to clear the blood from his nose without it making him pass out. Then he braced himself, his body going tense and his hands trying to lock into his pants. Derek’s arm wrapped tighter around him and the older man took Spencer’s hands, putting them on his arm and whispering for him to squeeze.

After that, Spencer tried not to pay attention. He closed his eyes and let the paramedics do their job. He hissed when his nose was first set, his hands tightening on Derek’s arm without him realizing it, and he had to bite his lip to keep in the moan when she finished, ending it by stuffing cotton balls into his nose. By the time she was done, he was dizzy, but still conscious.

“There we go.” Britney said, stripping her bloody gloves off. “Are there any other injuries, Dr. Reid?”

As she’d been working, her partner had been taking his vitals, testing his heart rate and checking his fingers. Spencer realized that his shoes and socks were off and the man was inspecting his toes. He’d been too wrapped up in trying to ignore the pain in his face that he’d blocked out almost all other sensations.

“Dr. Reid?”

He blinked, turning to look at the woman still kneeling beside him. What? Oh, that was right. She’d asked about other injuries. He debated for a moment, mentally running an inventory of his body. His wrists hurt from the handcuffs and from how he’d twisted his wrists around a little and the heat was starting to come into his body, making his limbs tingle, but nothing was serious. His ribs weren’t broken, he knew that. Just simply bruised. There was no point in having her look at them. “No, ma’am.” He managed to say without a stutter.

“Then I suggest you get back to your hotel as soon as possible. Take a warm bath and then get dry and get in bed. Try to eat some lukewarm soup, maybe drink some tea.”

Spencer zoned her out. He knew what he had to do. He’d read plenty of books that spoke of how to treat hypothermia. Not that he would tell her that. If there was one thing he’d been trying to learn, it was when to keep his mouth shut. His team tolerated his babbling and incessant amount of information, but he’d seen firsthand how it could make other people annoyed or confused or uncomfortable. Sometimes even angry. So he resisted listing the facts he knew as well as the statistics that went with hypothermic patients.

“You ready to go, pretty boy?” Derek’s warm voice was in his ear, pulling him back to the present moment. A part of Spencer realized that he was a little disoriented, a little spacey, and that wasn’t healthy. But he didn’t say anything on it. All he wanted was to get back to the hotel and take a couple aspirin before wrapping up in his nice warm bed. “Yes.” He finally answered.

Derek shifted them, leaving Spencer alone on the couch as he stood. But before Spencer could rise and join him, Derek was picking him up once again. Spencer mustered up a small scowl that came out looking more like a pout. “I can walk.” He was proud that he wasn’t shivering so hard he was stuttering anymore.

A chuckle sounded right by his head. “Sure you can. But, being barefoot and all, I doubt it’d be a good idea to walk through the snow to the car. Just be quiet and let me carry you, all right? JJ went to go get the car.”

He really should have protested a little bit more. But exhaustion was starting to settle in and Derek was still so warm. Really, who would have thought that muscle man Derek would be so absolutely comfortable?

“Morgan, wait.” Aaron’s voice was a quiet murmur near them. “We need to ask him some questions.”

“Can’t it wait to the hotel, Hotch? Kid’s soaked straight through. He needs to get warm an in dry clothes before he gets sick.”

“Fine. We’ll wrap things up here and be there within the half hour. You and JJ keep him awake for us and get him dry.” A pause. Then, “Take care of him for us, Morgan.”

Something was draped over top of Spencer at that moment. He didn’t bother trying to figure out what it was. His eyes had slid closed once more. It was easier to focus on not feeling the throbbing in his face if he wasn’t trying to look at the room moving around him.

Once again Spencer pulled inside of his mind, shutting out the world. He did as he’d always done when the pain became too much; in his mind’s eye he pulled up a book and lost himself in the words, using it as a buffer against reality.

NEXT PART

When awareness finally seeped back into Spencer was as he was being carried into the hotel. A vague part of him had recognized that he’d been riding in a car and as he was picked back up in Derek’s arms once more. That was when he’d pulled back to himself, checking the surroundings around him. They were in the hotel. The elevator, to be specific. Then Derek was moving again and Spencer closed his eyes. There was the sound of the door and then Derek’s grip was shifting, lowering him to his feet.

His legs shook underneath him, embarrassing him. He was grateful that Derek hadn’t let go of him. His friend’s voice was gentle when he said “I’ve got you, Reid. Just hang on. JJ, why don’t you go fill the tub up?”

“I don’t need a bath.” Spencer mumbled, drawing their eyes to him. He forced his eyes open. “A bath for hypothermic patients is to start to bring their core temperature back up. I’ve been gradually warming ever since Derek pulled me out of the snow. What I need now would be warm tea and dry clothes. After that, just a bed.” Again, he resisted saying the facts in his mind, trying to keep his words as simple as possible. Not because they wouldn’t want to hear it, this time, but because talking _hurt_ and he didn’t want to do too much of it.

A female chuckle drew Spencer’s eyes to where JJ stood by the door. “Why don’t I wait in the hall while you two take care of that?” She said impishly. “Call me in when it’s safe.” Before she left, though, she gathered a washrag and a bowl of water, setting them on the dresser. None of them said anything about it, or about the blood that had dried on Spencer’s face and neck.

As she shut the door, her words sank in. Spencer couldn’t stop himself from wincing. His hands weren’t completely numb anymore but his coordination wasn’t back to normal yet, which meant that he was going to need help like JJ had just hinted at. That was just great. Derek was going to have to help him get dressed!

“Come on, pretty boy. One foot in front of the other. Let’s get you by your suitcase and get these wet clothes off.”

Blood filled Spencer’s cheeks with heat. He limped toward the bed, getting slightly steadier with each step. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad. Maybe he could get most of it on his own. His trembling wasn’t as bad as it had been, but the cold felt like it had settled into his bones. It was almost like he was shivering internally.

“Lean right here for a second, kid.” Derek told him. He propped Spencer up against the front of the dresser. Then, before Spencer could say anything, Derek was grabbing the bottom of the sweater and pulling it up and off of him. It landed with a wet plop on the ground. It made Spencer feel a little colder, but a lot lighter. The sweater had been wet and heavy.

“I can get the rest.” Spencer told him, bringing his hands up to his shirt. “If you wouldn’t mind gathering clean clothes for me, please.”

“No problem.”

While Derek moved to the suitcase, Spencer forced his fingers to loosen his tie and pull it off and then unbutton the top two buttons of his shirt. Next he started to grab the bottom of his sweater vest. Then, with a mental shrug, he grabbed the bottom of his button up shirt as well. It was an effort, but he pulled the both of them over his head. It made the world spin a little when they brushed against his nose. Agony exploded in his face and his stomach protested to the movement.

He must have made a sound because Derek was there, taking hold of his arms to brace him before he could slide down to the floor. “Woah there. You gotta watch that nose, man.” He said. Spencer didn’t pay any attention. He was fighting to stay afloat under the waves of pain from his face and stomach.

Suddenly Derek’s hands tightened and then went completely still. Confusion lit Spencer’s eyes as he looked at his friend’s face. He saw Derek’s gaze was trapped downward. Tension filled Spencer when he realized what it was that Derek was looking at. “I thought you said you weren’t hurt anywhere else?” Derek hissed.

A soft shiver ran down Spencer. He knew that sound of coiled lethality in Derek’s voice. His friend was ready to commit violence. “Nothing significant.” He whispered.

“Nothing significant, Reid? Your stomach is black and blue!”

That drew Spencer’s eyes down. When he saw his stomach, he winced again. It really did look bad. His whole right side was one giant bruise. “Nothing is broken, Morgan. I’ve had worse before.” He brushed it off as best as he could. “Now, could you hand me a shirt? This room is cold.”

A long minute passed before Derek shook his head. “Let’s get you wiped down first, kid. You don’t want blood on your fresh clothes.”

The two stayed completely silent as Derek took up the rag and wiped Spencer down until all traces of blood was gone from his skin. He made sure Spencer was steady before taking the bowl and rag into the bathroom and setting them on the counter. Then he came back over, handing Spencer a clean shirt. The two worked quietly, putting the clean clothes onto Spencer’s body. When it came time to do the lower half, Derek discreetly turned around so Spencer could get dry boxers and sweats on. When that was done, Derek bundled him into the bed, tucking the comforter around him. Then Derek took a moment to change his own clothes before going and letting JJ know it was safe. She came in bearing a tray with a cup and a bowl on it.

After settling the tray on his lap, JJ brought a hand up, smoothing it over his hair. When he ducked his head she simply chuckled. “I’ll be back up in a bit. I need to go make the arrangements to check out tomorrow before their desk closes, ok? You stay awake, Spence. The others should be here soon.”

“I’ll keep him up, JJ.”

Spencer was busy wrapping his hands around the mug on the tray. A soft moan slipped past his lips. To his hands the cup felt as it if was full of boiling water, though he knew it wasn’t. It was just the nerves were sensitive at the moment and the blood flow was returning to his extremities. In response to the sudden heat in his hands, his body gave an almost convulsive shiver. How on earth was it that he was still cold? It was still that internal cold, though. Like his bones and organs were frozen and shivering on the inside.

Warm hands settled over top his, helping steady the cup and lift it to his lips. He wanted to protest that he could do it on his own. His pride demanded that he not take this much help from someone. But he knew that if he tried it on his own it was going to end up everywhere and he needed the heat from this tea. After a few short sips, the two men set the cup down and Derek was pressing something into Spencer’s hand. “It’s just ibuprofen, kid.” He said in answer to Spencer’s questioning look. “It’s the stuff you got when you hit your head like, a month ago. You must have forgotten to take it out of your go bag. Hell, looks like you forgot to take it, period. The bottle was full.”

Part of Spencer wanted to ignore it. He absolutely hated taking medication for any reason whatsoever. Yet, he knew that he was going to hurt soon, once the shock wore the rest of the way off. Better to stave it off now and let his body get a decent night sleep. He closed his eyes and put the pill in his mouth, allowing Derek to help him lift the cup to wash it down.

It must have taken longer than he’d thought to get to the hotel and get him changed because, as he and Derek lowered the cup, there was a knock on the door. Derek gave Spencer a considering look before he went and opened it. Aaron, Dave and Emily all filed in, JJ on their heels.

“How you feeling, kiddo?” Dave asked as he took a seat on the other bed in the room, the one that was Derek’s.

Spencer took a deep breath. “Better.” He answered carefully. It really _hurt_ to talk. “Warmer.”

Their Unit Chief stood at the foot of the bed, JJ right beside him, looking down at his young agent. “Are you up for a few questions, Reid?”

Another shiver ran down Spencer’s spine. Automatically he reached for his cup, wanting something to do with his hands. As more of the numbness wore off, though, the ache in his wrists was settling in. A glimpse showed him there was bruising he hadn’t noticed before. Most likely by the next day the bruising would be pretty dark.

While Emily sat next to Dave, Derek sat down directly beside Spencer, reaching over to assist him with the cup for another drink. Once it was back on the tray, Derek moved and slid an arm around Spencer’s shoulders, offering warmth and comfort. Faced with his team, Spencer knew he wasn’t going to be able to just brush this off. “Yes.” He finally answered.

Aaron nodded slightly. “Do you know who did this to you?”

After a pause, Spencer said “Yes.”

The room was silent as they waited for him to continue. He dropped his eyes down to lock on the tray. Shame was starting to build up in his gut. This was going to sound pitiful. How on earth would his team respect him once they heard how the past few days had gone? Because he knew they wouldn’t just leave it at today’s incident. They would want to know what had led up to it.

When it was apparent that Spencer wasn’t going to say any more, Aaron crossed his arms over his chest. “Who was it, Reid?”

 _Here it comes_ Spencer thought to himself. His eyes dropped even lower. “Detective Jameson and Detective Curtis.”

There was the sound of an outcry. He could actually feel Derek’s body tense up. But something happened, most likely Aaron holding out a hand in a gesture for silence. Then his boss spoke again. “We need to know what happened. Start from when we left the station.”

The pain in his face was growing stronger as the numbness from the cold wore off. Spencer used it as a focus so he could detach himself from the conversation. Maybe it would make it easier to say. Make it easier to sit here and make a fool of himself before the people who mattered the most to him.

“I saw the two detectives being pulled into the Chief’s office and I knew there was trouble. They were in there for thirty three minutes when I realized they were on their way out. The body language they were displaying indicated a high level of anger. Not wanting to be around for that, I took my phone and put it in my pocket and grabbed my glasses. I alerted JJ that I was going to change my contacts and I headed to the restroom.”

He had to pause to not only gather courage, but to try and work past the throbbing of his face. When was the pain medication going to kick in? No one spoke in the silence, letting him have his break before he continued.

“When I exited the restroom they were directly outside. I ran straight into Jameson. He grabbed me while Curtis taped my mouth. I tried to break free and I was successful for a short moment but they caught hold of me and brought me back over, where they hit my head against the wall, making me dizzy long enough for them to restrain me with the handcuffs. I was carried outside and, cold and disoriented, I didn’t quite realize what they were doing when they unhooked one wrist. Then I was hooked to the front of the vehicle and left there for you all to find.”

He knew it was obvious that he was leaving parts of it out. They were used to him describing things in a rush of details that tripped over his tongue in his effort to get them all out. This was short and concise. He hoped they thought it was simply due to his face hurting and not wanting to talk because of that. But they were profilers; they would be able to read him well enough to know better.

“Is there any reason you can think of that they would want to do this to you?”

That had been the question he’d known would be asked and one of the last things he wanted to answer. But there was no denying his unit chief. “Multiple reasons. My status as an agent, my intelligence, my lack of field skills.” Spencer didn’t realize how bitter the words came out sounding. “Bullies find a multitude of reasons when they look at me. But the final straw was the suspension their chief gave them for harassment.” He tightened his grip on the edge of the tray, his eyes closing. “Little genius boy, left out in the cold.” The words were soft and laced with more pain than he wanted to show. “That was what they told me.”

“What else did they say?” Aaron asked him. “All of it, Reid. Without any more editing.”

Well, there was no getting around that. “They told me _‘You thought you were better than us? Sending your boyfriend to come harass us because you ‘misplaced’ your coat. That was bullshit, you little punk.’_ ” Spencer felt Derek’s twitch at that, but he ignored it, continuing on in a flat voice. _“‘You don’t even deserve to be an officer. You’re just a kid who has more brains than he’s worth. You think you’re better than us? We worked to get where we are.’_ Then Curtis told me _‘That’s right. You think you’ll get us in trouble for this too, but you can’t. Chief already suspended us for two weeks, no pay. Said he’d heard too much about our ‘harassment’. Not our fault people are bitches and can’t take a damn joke.’_ ”

A shiver cut Spencer’s words off. He rode it out before finishing, his voice the same monotone as it had been before. “Finally Jameson told me _‘So, we thought we’d show them who the bitch was here. Let’s see how you stand it out here in the cold. If you’re tough enough to be a cop, you should be able to handle the hour till your team comes back.’_ Then they spit at me, kicked my face and left. I managed to remove the tape from my mouth so I could breathe and I attempted to get my cell phone from my pocket. I managed to get it out but I couldn’t get it up to my hands to call anyone so I waited.”

JJ made a soft sound in her throat. “Jesus, Spence.”

The arm around Spencer squeezed briefly. “Tell them about the other incidents, kid.” He told him. That drew Aaron’s attention. Spencer looked up to see Aaron turning a glare toward Derek. “Other incidents?” He demanded.

Spencer couldn’t help but sigh. “It was nothing serious, Hotch.” He tried to downplay it. Exhaustion was hitting and he just didn’t feel up to dealing with the drama of all this anymore. “Just small things. Comments here and there. Moving my jacket when I wasn’t looking, or mixing up my coffee when I was distracted. Hiding my cell phone. One or both rearranged my board. They were all minor things.”

“And you didn’t think it was significant to bring it up?”

This time Spencer let his eyes slide closed. The day was really catching up with him. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. “Like I said, they were minor.” He mumbled. “I’m used to it. I get it in some form or another wherever I go.”

Another voice spoke, calm and soothing. He thought it might be Dave. “You get this harassment wherever you go, Reid? People have treated you like this before, at other stations, on other cases?”

“Mmhmm.” It was easier to make the soft sound than to form words. His eyes felt so heavy that he didn’t even bother opening them. He didn’t see the looks the other agents wore. “At an estimated 97.5% of the stations we visit. Usually it’s not too bad. Snide comments or jokes, that sort of thing. People deliberately ignore things I ask them to do. I don’t mind. I just do it myself.”

The team looked at one another, all wearing pained expressions. They’d had no idea that people were treating Spencer like this. If any of them had noticed it, they would have put a stop to it. Derek looked down at the kid who was slowly sinking into him. “Why don’t you tell me when they do this, kid? I’d put a stop to it.”

“Cause you can’t beat up the officers everywhere we go.” Spencer murmured. He looked like he was about to fall asleep right in front of them. “It’s never been excessively physical before and words don’t bother me.”

Aaron looked around the room at the rest of his team. He made a small gesture towards the door before turning back to Spencer. “Why don’t you rest a little, Reid? We’ll talk about this more tomorrow. You just get warm and get some sleep right now.”

The young man just mumbled something incoherent in response. Derek looked around at his friends, nodding lightly. “I’ve got him, guys. Go ahead. We’ll find you in the morning.”

Slowly the others cleared the room. When the last of them was gone, Derek shifted a little, intending on laying Spencer down. It surprised him when the younger agent actually cuddled in a little closer to him. He felt his lips curve in a smile. With one hand he picked up the tray, setting it on the floor beside the bed. Then he kicked his shoes off and brought himself the rest of the way onto the bed. Their shifting of positions gave Spencer more room to snuggle in, which he did.

Derek pulled his friend close, unable to resist pressing a small kiss to the top of his head, though he had no idea what possessed him to do so. “Sleep, pretty boy. I’ve got you here and I’m not going anywhere. You’re safe now.”

Spencer shifted his body a little. “I knew you’d come.” He mumbled sleepily. “You always do.”

“And I always will. Now sleep, Reid.”


End file.
